Mongol Trial Day 3 (1/9/14)

Today in class, we gathered in groups and soon broke into two groups - lawyers and witnesses.  The witnesses confirmed their background stories with each other and posted them to the google-doc we created to share out information.  I think it would be beneficial to add this to out group blog so we can easily access each others' information.  In order to strengthen my argument, I think that including the story of one of our witnesses would strengthen my argument.  I think Tori's story is the most appalling and shocking; therefore, I plan to mention her story in my opening statement.  I think  it would be beneficial for us to utilize out blog even more than we have.

At home, I started off by reviewing my textbook notes and notes.  I am now thinking that the basis of my opening statement will consist primarily of a tragic story, a few STRONG statistics concerning the death and destruction of the Mongols, and possibly a direct quote from Genghis Khan.  Subsequently, I watched John Green's Crash Course on the Mongols.  This video proved to be extremely helpful in my research and in coming up with the material basis for my opening statement.  Included in the video is an argument between proponents of the Mongols, and those who found the Mongols to be "not so great".  John Green first outlined the positive aspects of the Mongol Empire:

• Reinvigorated Eurasian trade
• Increased communication throughout Eurasia via Yam system 
• Cuisine - rice becomes more common in different parts of Eurasia (esp. Persia)
• Forcibly relocated people to different places for different purposes
• Were tolerant of many different religions

Knowing the positive aspects of the Mongols will provide me with possible holes in our team's argument.  When presenting my opening statement and throughout the entire trial, I will be sure NOT to bring up any of these topics.  Avoiding these topics during my opening statement will allow me to prevent any successful rebuttals by the opposing team.  John Green then proceeds to outline the negative aspects of the Mongols.  This information was extremely helpful in augmenting to my argument in that it provided me with strong supporting data as to why the Mongols should be convicted of crimes against humanity

• One such piece o evidence can be seen in a quote by Genghis Khan: "The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom, their wives and daughters."
• The number of civilians they killed is estimated to be in the millions
• Used biological warfare against their enemies by catapulting the plague-infested corpses of the dead into cities of their enemies.  This contributed significantly to the spread of the Black Death, which is responsible for approximately 20 million deaths in Eurasia.

I am continuing to brainstorm other ideas for my opening statement which will capture the attention of those poised to defend the Mongols against the prosecution.